Medical expert fears ‘serious damage’ to Celtic star Turnbull after ‘Grade three’ muscle tear
David Turnbull could suffer “serious damage” to his hamstring if his recovery is managed incorrectly by Celtic amid fears he has sustained a “Grade three” tear.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Turnbull, 22, was forced off in the 2-1 Scottish League Cup final against Hibernian on 19 December with what was later revealed as a thigh issue.
Dinnery told this site last week (22 December) that Turnbull was likely to be out for eight weeks while he recovers.
The Scotsman reported on 27 December that noises coming from within the Celtic camp tally with Dinnery’s prediction.
Dinnery offered insight into the nature of the midfielder’s injury and the programme he will undergo as he continues his rehab.
He told Football Insider’s Adam Williams: “His availability rate has been brilliant until this point this season.
“But the extent of the muscle fibre damage could be in and around that grade two, approaching grade three.
“It may also be an indication that there could be a tendon issue. That could be the far end of the hamstring.
“Or it could be the proximal end, which is more towards the glute. So it’s those attachments sites.
“They take a little bit longer to heal because of the complexities of the connective tissue. So it could be an indication of that.
“During this initial first phase of recovery, you’re talking about some really low-level loading. You don’t want to overload the muscle at this stage.
“If you do that, you risk exacerbating the problem. As you progress, you keep that load low but high-volume. It’s going to be isometric work.
“You don’t want to be overstretching that muscle during that reconstruction phase while those fibres are repairing themselves.
“Any overloading or overstretching and you’re going to cause serious damage.
“In terms of treatment, it should be a fairly easy two to three weeks and then you would assess how it is healing over that.“
Turnbull has scored nine goals and registered seven assists across 34 appearances this term.
Celtic face Hibernian at home on 17 January in their first match back after the winter break.
In other news, pundit tells Celtic fans to “get excited” about Daizen Maeda as more signings completed.